by
Richie Hall
Sports Editor
Hamilton County Reporter
Carmel advanced to the Sectional 8 championship game with a 62-52 win over Fishers Friday at the Eric Clark Activity Center.
The Class 4A No. 1 Greyhounds got off to a great start, holding a double-digit lead late in the first quarter, then weathered a comeback by the Tigers in the fourth quarter. Carmel plays Hamilton Southeastern in tonight’s championship game.
“You know that teams are going to make a run,” said Greyhounds coach Ryan Osborn. “You try and prep the guys for it. You know everything’s not going to go exactly the way you want it to.”
Carmel skipped off to a 7-0 lead, with two John Michael Mulloy baskets sandwiching a 3-pointer from Andrew Owens. Luke Hernandez hit a jumper to get Fishers on the board, but the ‘Hounds used a 10-3 run to consume the remainder of the first quarter and lead 17-5. Luke Heady started the run with a 3.
Carmel then made an 8-2 run that lasted most of the second period and gave it a 25-7
lead. Mulloy scored five points, while Ben Frische added the other three points. Alex
Szilagyi ended the run by making a 3, but Robert Fry scored on a layin, then Peter
Suder got a basket off a steal to end the half, giving the Greyhounds a 29-10 lead.
“I thought we started the game well, and we executed and defended. We did everything we needed to do except make free throws in the first half to build a lead,” said
Osborn.
The game tightened up in the second half, but Carmel was able to keep a comfortable distance from Fishers in the third quarter. Mulloy scored six more points in
the third, with Owens hit another 3. Josiah Matthews got going for the Tigers, adding
seven points, then Willie Jackson made two free throws at the very end of the period.
“Playing hard is part of the expectation,” said Fishers coach Matt Moore. “We need
to continue to put four quarters together. If you’re going to try to beat a team like
Carmel, you’ve got to find a way to put an entire game together. And if you do that,
you got a chance. But you can’t turn the ball over the way that we did and dig that hole.
There’s a saying that you can’t win a game in the first half, but you can lose one. And
we did that.”
Hernandez opened the fourth quarter with a 3, keeping Fishers within 41-28, but
Karsten Windlan immediately got the lead back up to 44-28 with a three-point play.
Carmel later led 47-31, but Jackson singlehandedly took the Tigers on an 8-2 run,
making two free throws, draining a 3, then converting a traditional three-point play.
That cut the Greyhounds’ lead to 10, at 49-39.
Szilagyi got the lead under 10 by nailing a 3, putting Fishers within 53-46. Two Jackson free throws then cut the lead further, to 54-48. But Windlan answered by going 4 of 4 from the line during a 15-second period, and that got Carmel out of trouble.
“I’m proud of the seniors,” said Osborn. “I’m proud of their resolve, their ability to
get through stuff.”
Mulloy scored 19 points for the ‘Hounds, who are now 21-1 for the season, with Windlan adding 14 and Owens scoring 11. Owens and Mulloy each collected five rebounds.
Jackson, a senior, scored 18 points and made all 11 of his free throw attempts. Hernandez contributed 11 points, while Matthews, Szilagyi and Jeffrey Simmons all collected four rebounds. Fishers finished its season 17-8.
“Proud of our seniors,” said Moore. “I think our seniors really set the tone, not only
for the season, but for the program. They’ve done something, an uncharted territory in
terms of taking our team to the number of wins we had and the places that we’ve won.
That’s a credit to those guys. We’re going to
miss those guys dearly.”
